“The professors really develop a genuine interest for their students. They care that you attend classes and that you do well in your classes. If you're struggling, they provide you with the assistance that you need.”

Dance Faculty

Christine Bennett-Richard, MFAAssistant Professor of Dance

Christine Bennett-Richard, Assistant Professor, has a Master of Fine Arts in Dance from Smith College and a BFA-with honors from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. She was Founder and Artistic Director of Boston-based Bennett Dance Company from 1996-2007. From 2010-2014, Christine was Assistant Director for the Office for the Arts Dance Program at Harvard University.

Christine has received choreographic recognition and/or funding from the New England Foundation for the Arts (Touring Support, Meet the Composer Support), Massachusetts Cultural Council, Dance Umbrella, the Boston Center for the Arts, Jacob's Pillow, The Dance Center of Columbia College, the Lisa Carducci Memorial Scholarship/University of Illinois, and the Gretchen Moran Fellowship/Smith College.

Barbara SholesSenior Lecturer

Barbara Sholes received her early dance training in ballet, jazz, and character dance in Boston, where her teachers included Eugene Lorring and Nanette de Valois, founder of the Sadler's Wells Ballet (now the Royal Ballet). Later, she studied in New York with Margaret Craske (Cecchetti) and at the School of American Ballet with George Balanchine, Mme. Felia Doubrovska and Mme. Alexandra Danilova. Her performance experience includes appearances with the original Boston Ballet, The Opera Company of Boston, American Ballet Theatre and in numerous professional music theatre productions.

She has studied the Royal Academy Teachers' syllabus and completed the Vaganova Syllabus Teachers course at Boston Ballet School with Mme. Tatiana Legat and Anna Marie Holmes.

Barbara was a Theatre Arts major at Boston University and holds a B.A. in Communications with a Theatre concentration. She is also a certified personal trainer.

She is also on the dance faculty at Bridgewater State University. Some of her previous teaching experiences have included classes for Jose Mateo's Ballet Theatre Young Dancers Program and teaching for the Dalcroze Eurythmics Program at the Longy School of Music.

Students from the Dept. of Fine and Applied Arts/Dance Program and Assistant Professor Christine Bennett recently attended an Aerial Dance master class at Boston University. The class teaches dancers how to climb, swing, drop, flip, spin, and perform using aerial silk material suspended from the rafters. When done correctly, dancers give the illusion that they are flying and dancing in midair. View Photos